Tag Archives: CJ Martello

  A significant event on the Far South Side, the 42nd annual Pullman House Tour has garnered more attention over the years as former area residents felt the need to connect with their roots. They have found that the tour is the perfect time to return to Pullman/Roseland/Kensington for a glimpse into their past. This year marks the first year that Annual Pullman House Tour will be taking place in the newly proclaimed and designated Pullman National Monument. I mention this as a cautionary statement to those of you have given thought to attending the Pullman House Tour. Due to …

It seems that this time of year always presents itself with so many different avenues to choose from insofar as a topic for Petals from Roseland is concerned. That is why this column covers a number of different topics. So, sit back and relax as we journey down many paths. Let me begin by saying I really enjoy being a member of the Veneti nel Mondo. They are a jovial and fun-loving group. Even those members who aren’t laughing every minute due to physical pain or the agonies of life manage to laugh at the wisecracks. This is the group …

  I have written this column every month for the past 11 years and, in the process of researching for what to write, I learn how much I didn’t know! I have been on a multi-month odyssey looking for petitions for naturalization, and I have found out yet more new information that should make life easier. Last month, I concluded that the only way to find Cook County Circuit Court petitions and Superior Court petitions was to order microfilm from LDS to your local Family History Center. There is an easier way! It turns out that the complete set of …

  Let me say that many of us have left Roseland but we’ve never left behind the people, places or good times that Roseland gave us. The rich history and connection that we have carried with us these many years is borne out in the respect we have for many of those we knew in our youth who are now elderly. Among these “precious gems” from our youth that have always shined brightly when we recall them is the late Anne Ronzani. Anne Ronzani (nee Lavarda), passed away June 5, one day before her 97th birthday. She was the wife …

  As I sit at my retiree desk writing this column, summer is still working its way into being a consistent season. My next-door neighbor Al Davis is burning some logs in his fire pit and the smell is wafting up through my barely open second floor window. The scent is playing time machine games with my mind and drawing me back to those days of burning leaves and other smells of the good old days. Those simpler days were full of memorable aromas and some smells that we’d like to forget. (Why is it that we always sniff again …